Try
by Bookworm58
Summary: She truly thought her life was going to end that night... Retelling of episode 3x08 "Try" no spoilers past the episode.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is like my "72 Hour" story. Just a retelling of the episode except I'm breaking it up into several chapters this time. I realized after posting my other story that a 12,000+ one chapter story must be intimidating to read :) so this time you'll be able to read it in pieces but you'll also have to wait for the other chapters.**

Try

* * *

Sarah Linden couldn't recall the last time she ever felt so scared in her life. For the first time ever she felt the sensation of her life flashing right before her eyes. In ten long seconds she saw and re-experienced every significant moment of her life up until now. But when it was over, she was still alive. The coolness of the sharp knife prickled against her esophagus, and she only vaguely recalled that the person sitting in the back seat holding the knife had ordered her to start driving.

It felt like an eternity but in reality after about 20 seconds she finally found her voice. "Easy, easy…" Sarah whispered the fear clearly evident in her voice. "Just a…" her voice trailed off, unsure of what to say. How do you negotiate with someone who's got a knife at your throat?

"Where's you gun?" the man in the back spoke again. This time Sarah recognized the voice as being Pastor Mike. Everything suddenly made sense, it was all a trap… finding his car. He wanted them to find it, make a decoy so that they would search the trains for him while he snuck into her car and waited. But what did he want with her?

It wasn't the time to be asking such questions. She had learned long ago that in a hostage situation you stay alive by doing exactly what the abductor says. She certainly didn't want to tell him where her gun was, as that was all she had to defend herself with. Nonetheless she was in no position to argue. "It's on my right hip, under my jacket."

Pastor Mike started making moves to grab her weapon which made the knife shift over the delicate skin of her throat, and Sarah's body tensed up even more as she gave a small gasp. She felt his free hand snake its way down her right side. She lifted her arm up slightly allowing him easier access, showing that she was not going to fight this and he didn't need to make any rash moves. His hand slipped into the inside of her jacket, and she felt her gun slide out of its holster. She was now completely defenseless, so he should take the knife away from her throat now right?

"And your phone? Your radio?"

No not yet. It was apparent that he was not going to take that knife away until he had every form of defense she had. "I don't have a radio," Sarah lied as her radio was actually on the seat next to her. "My phone is in my other jacket pocket," she continued saying each word slowly. His hand slide in-between the seat and her car door, and she raised her other arm so he could take the phone out of her pocket. Sarah had decided to take a chance, lying to him about het radio. If he took everything away from her, it would be hours before anyone noticed that she was missing. And if the killer was currently sitting behind her right now, she could very well be dead by that time. That radio was her only chance for survival right now. There was more of chance he would believe that she didn't have a radio then a lie along the lines of not having her phone on her. As long as he was unaware of the radio, he would never know.

Once Pastor Mike had her phone back with him, he slowly drew the knife away from her throat. Sarah's body relaxed ever so slightly, yes her gun was now in the hands of a possible serial killer psychopath, but at least her gullet wasn't going to get sliced if she moved the wrong way. Her eyes, which had been staring intently at the rear view mirror trying to see exactly what Pastor Mike was doing, looked toward her fellow police officers several yards away. If only they looked over at her car, maybe they would see someone was in her back seat.

It was horrible feeling so trapped and powerless. Help was mere feet from her position; it would be so easy to get their attention. All she would have to do is honk her horn or something. The soft clinking of the gun being shifted in the pastors hands, reminded Sarah that her life could be over in flash if she was not careful. Though she couldn't exactly see it, she had the dreadful feeling that the gun was being pointed right at her. "Put on your seat belt," Pastor Mike's low voice chilled the air again.

Sarah slowly reached her arm back and grabbed the seat belt, with her other hand she secretly picked up her radio and placed it under her leg. She had to time this perfectly. She pulled the seat belt over her shoulder and at the same time of clicking the belt in place she turned her radio onto open mike. Sarah desperately hoped that Pastor Mike didn't notice the second click; she thought that she had timed it well, but she herself did hear two clicks. Her eyes looked as far as they could toward her left; the desire to look behind her was almost unbearable. "Let's go," Pastor Mikes disembodied voice whispered.

It sounded like he didn't notice, which was somewhat a relief. "Where do you want to go?" Sarah asked.

"Away from the lights."

This took away any hope of driving by the scene that lay in front of her and trying to signal to one of her co-workers. He was going to make sure she drove far away from anyone that could help her now. Her only hope was that her radio signal would be picked up. Sarah put her car key into the ignition and started the vehicle, while in the back Pastor Mike leaned back against the seat. This would be the beginning of a long night.

_Opening Credits_

Sarah was now driving along the back roads of the city where fewer cars were driving. It had been silent for several long tense moments, her radio was still on open mike but it wasn't going to help her if things stayed silent. "Your car at the station, you wanted us to find it?" she broke the icy silence. Conversing with her abductor would not only signal those who may be listening over the radio, but may delay her death long enough for help to arrive.

"You think I wanted this?" Pastor Mike asked, it wasn't a taught, it sounded like a very sincere question.

Sarah met his eyes through the rearview mirror. He was probably about to try and pass off some story about his innocents. She wouldn't buy it however; it was all way two obvious to her. He leaves his bloody car at the train station to make it look like he escaped on a train, while in the meantime he sneaks into her car and abducts her. These are not actions of an innocent man, "You could have gotten on a train."

"And go where?" it sounded like another sincere question. She had to admit that he sounded pretty convincing. "Tell me?" he asked then paused for a second, but didn't allow her time to really answer. "Everything I had is here and now it's gone. I didn't plan anything, I-"

"Things happen," Sarah started on her first defense, trying to be understanding toward her abductor. Letting him know that she understands what's happening. "Things can get really out of control, but I can help you."

"Did you want to help me when I was minding my own business?" Pastor Mike asked sounding almost menacing, and then once again answered his own question. "No…" Sarah saw his eyes look at her reflection in the rearview mirror and glare. "You show up on my doorstep and stick that badge in my face, and you have the audacity to question my intentions… Treat me like I'm some kind of a pervert- why? Because I help kids? I do what no one else wants to do, deigns to do. And I end up with a target on my back for it."

Sarah remained quiet during his accusation, taking her eyes off the road every few seconds to look at the Pastors eyes. Those eyes kept there threatening glare at her. Where those eyes going to be the last thing she ever saw, just like all those girls. Was this what they felt like in there last moments?

"Hey!" someone on the street suddenly shouted, and this was followed by the sound of something made of glass breaking into little pieces. This drew Sarah's attention back to the streets. They were passing a run down area of town where many of the run away kids mingled around. These were the kids that were in danger right now, with the serial killer still out there. She was started to doubt that he was sitting in her back seat. I still didn't answer the question of what Pastor Mike wanted with her.

"These kids are in so much pain. If only you could see what's going on inside of them, you have no idea… but I see them."

Sarah looked at him through the rearview mirror again. His eyes looked longingly out the window. But it didn't look malicious, more like he was aching for something. It was quickly becoming apparent that her first thought on Pastor Mike may have been wrong. He certainly wasn't acting like someone who wanted to rape young girls senseless then decapitate them. But he was still pointing a gun at her, was he that good at acting. Or maybe he was trapped, and doing this out of desperation.

The car was now approaching a stop light and there was another car stopped at the light on the other street facing there direction. Sarah slowed down to stop at the light, and as they got closer she realized it was a police car. As the car slowed to a stop, she would admit that the thought of somehow signaling them did cross her mind. But before she could even come up with a possible idea that wouldn't get her shot, the shoulder strap of her seat belt tighten over her chest and she felt the head of her gun being pressed into her kidney. "Don't move," Pastor Mike ordered threateningly.

"Ok you don't need to point the gun at me," Sarah gasped her voice breathy with fear.

"Shut up," he hissed at her.

Several tense moments went by. Pastor Mike did not remove the gun, it stayed pressed against her side as the reminder that she was not in the upper hand in this situation. Even though she was in control of the car, one wrong move would end her life. Sarah stared at the police car; it was too dark to tell who was inside. Both cars just sat there on either street, neither doing anything. Why wasn't the other car moving, did they see something suspicious? Or maybe her radio had already alerted the police of her situation and whoever was driving recognized her vehicle. What would Pastor Mike do if the car pulled over and came up to them? Would he do something rash and just shoot her? She didn't have to think about this terrifying thought for very long. The cars sirens blared for a moment and then drove forward. Their light turned green and Pastor Mike didn't waste any time, "Go- go!"

Sarah put her foot on the gas moving the car forward. She glanced over at the police car as it went by; another opportunity for rescue had passed. Pastor Mike seemed to know exactly what to do keep her in his power, and stop any chances of her signaling for help. She was really starting to doubt her chances of surviving this night.

* * *

Bullet strolled through the crowded police station. Something big must be happening because everyone was running like chickens with their heads cut off. She heard an announcement over the stations P.A. "All units report of king street station, we need all units…"

An officer shouldered her in passing, "Watch it dick," she called over her shoulder at him then continued walking. She fingered with the chain around her neck nervously. Where was that vegetable loving detective "Bugs"? She needed his help quick. Lyric had been at Pastor Mike's house, now the police are swarming the house with both of them missing. She was kicking herself for tipping off Pastor Mike about the police looking into him. It just seemed crazy that they would think he was the killer, and she didn't think anything of it. Now Pastor Mike's gone with Lyric and probably about to go do to her what he did to all the other girls.

The sound of Holder's voice hit her ears and Bullet quickly swung around. He was coming through the entrance door, talking on the phone not sounding too happy with whoever he was talking to "Pick up your damn phone all right."

"Hey!" she called running toward him.

He ignored her continuing to talk on his phone, while making his way down the hallway. "Skinner's got every uni in the city on rout."

"What the hell?" Bullet asked walking backward to keep in front of him. "I've been calling you all night; you don't answer you calls, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm a bit caught up right now," Holder told her offhandedly. He was obviously very distracted right now and didn't care what she had to say. But Lyric was in the hands of the killer right now, she needed him to listen to her.

She jogged to keep up with his strides. He continued ranting on the phone, "Look, between the twelve trains that left the station we got eyeball about sixteen hundred people."

Becoming desperate to get him to listen to her, Bullet jumped in front of Holder forcing him to stop. "Lyric is gone!"

That certainly got his attention. He finally stopped, lowering the phone from his ear, and actually took a moment to listen to her. "Wa- What are you talking about?"

"Pastor Mike took her!"

"What?"

It appeared that this carrot loving, stretched out white rabbit, was going to be slow to catch up. Bullet looked away for a second frustration building inside of her. Every minute they spend here talking about what's happening could be a minute too late. "He made Lyric go to his house; he wouldn't let her stay at Beacon."

"When?"

"Tonight. She called me all scared saying that he was trying to kill her," ok maybe that wasn't necessarily true but she needed to get there butts into gear.

"Where'd they go?" Holder asked seriously, finally she had gotten his full attention. Now she was in the position where she could convinced them to search wherever she wanted. "Think Bullet," He continued. "Did she say where they were going?"

Bullet thought hard. Where would Pastor Mike take Lyric? She needed to send them to the most likely place where Lyric is. If Pastor Mike really was the killer he'd eventually go to where all the other bodies were dumped. "The woods," she finally settled on on. "She said he's taking her to where he killed all the other girls." Holder nodded in understanding and walked past her, obviously going to share this information.

* * *

Lt James Skinner was certainly skeptic of this new information given. Holder had come in announcing that his confidential informant had given him information about the Pastor's whereabouts. The story didn't make a whole lot of sense though, "The woods we found the bodies in?" his voice was etched with skepticism. "When did you CI get this?"

"Around eight," Holder replied with confidence. He stood in front of him tall with his arms crossed over his chest, obviously not going to budge. "That's when she said she got the call, right before we hit the house."

"So his car at the train station was some kind of decoy?" James asked with an air of doubt. Holder had been using this same CI for almost a month, and the information had proved to be correct so far. But this just didn't make any sense; there was no logical reason for the Pastor to go back to the woods, especially if he is the killer. A killer returning to the scene of the crime when its already been found by police, you'd have to be mental.

"Could be," Holder's voice weakened a bit with an air of hesitancy, at least he seemed to agree that that story sounded fishy. He still shrugged looking behind him at Reddick who was standing at the door listening to them also looking doubtful.

"Is the pastor that smart, that's some of spy vs. spy shit?" Reddick asked.

"Well he'd have to be some kind of idiot to go back into those woods," James said, deciding that he wasn't going to buy this. They needed to flag down those trains, and didn't have enough men to be able to thoroughly search the trains and the park at the same time. It just wasn't going to work.

Holder refused to let it go however. "That's what she said Lu," he insisted.

"We're already spread thin, searching those trains. Now you full search on a four mile park?" James asked thinking that maybe if he pointed out what adding another search could do the investigation might put some sense into him.

"Yeah."

James scoffed looking down. Holder must have really trusted this CI to work so hard to get this search going. He had to ask anyway though, "You trust this CI?"

"No doubt sir," Holder replied without any hesitancy.

This is what put James over. He was going to give in, and trust that Holder knew what he was talking about. He nodded his head, "Pull half our guys get them to the park."

"Okay," Holder replied pulling out his phone and started to leave the room.

"I'll call in air support," James continued picking up the phone and started dialing. "Where's Linden?" The girl suddenly came to mind; he hadn't seen or heard from her in a couple hours. Did she punch out or something? What a time to start doing what normal cops do, and clocking out at the end of the day.

Holder turned around just long enough to say, "I don't know," raising a hand in the air, then leaving the room with Reddick following.

"Well get her in!" Skinner called not trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. "We need all hands on deck."

* * *

Sarah and Pastor Mike were still driving aimlessly around the city. By now Sarah had relaxed somewhat. They had been driving around for almost an hour, and Pastor Mike had yet to take her to any type of destination. She had spent the entire time making conversation with the pastor and dropping subtle hints of there location for anyone who may be listening to her radio. She was starting to feel that little itch you get when she needed to satisfy her nicotine fix, and with the added stress of being abducted she was seriously debating on just lighting up a stick. Though considering her abductor had her loaded gun, it was probably better to at least ask first. "If we're going to drive around all night, do you mind if I have a cigarette?"

"Yes I do, your car already smells like an ash tray," Pastor Mike quickly replied. Well if he didn't like how her car smelled, he certainly didn't have to stay in it. In fact he has no right to complain about her own car.

What got her the most was that she had mistakingly started to believe that Pastor Mike was starting to soften towards her. Maybe when they were both comfortable enough she could convince him to let her go. Make some sort of a deal with him, like she wouldn't press charges or keep him from jail time if he let her go. Considering that he wouldn't even let her have a smoke in her own car meant that she needed to start another strategy. Try and relate to your abductor. "I do understand your work. I grew up in foster care," she explained looking at his eyes through the rearview mirror. She couldn't help but do it every couple of seconds. It was so unnerving, that fact that she could only see his eyes, and hear his disembodied voice. This was exactly how all those victims of the Pied Piper felt. "Bounced around to different homes, different schools, even ran away a few times," she continued taking another glace at his cold reflection in the mirror. "You want to know what the worst part was? Pity. People paint of picture of you in their heads, and they don't… see you. Who you really are."

This was another one of those rare moments when she shared anything from her past in foster care. She never liked talking about it, those memories were very painful. It was interesting the people she seemed to share it with. Sure she and Holder had a pretty close bond now, but on that day all those years ago when they were searching for Jack, she had barely known him. Yet she shared with him those frustrations she felt about finding the light switch. Now she was sharing with her possible killer. He should understand though, he even admitted that the system was 'broken'. She was once in that system.

"That's what they taught you I supposed," Pastor Mike's low voice ghosted through the air again. There was a long pause before he continued, "Humanize yourself so the abductor won't kill you." Another pause, "…It won't work." He might as well should have just slapped her. It seemed like relating to the Pastor was not going to work, he must have seen this move before. With his other victims probably. A part of her knew that she wasn't going to survive this.

TBC

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed. And seriously if anyone thinks its boring let me know. Why waste my time writing it if no one wants to read it :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

* * *

The air support helicopters had been sweeping the woods for any sign of suspicious movement for almost three hours. The person flying the chopper stared down at the passing dark trees below. The first rays of light were started to lighten the woods, dawn was maybe an hour away. So far they had found nothing, "We're going to do another sweep of the north perimeter of the park. We still got nothing. Over.

* * *

Stephen Holder was at the Seattle police station, heading the search of the park over his radio. The station was in a buzz searching the lead Bullet had given him. Reddick was standing by a table looking down at a map, and Stephen was pacing around the room. Where the hell was Linden? They had been trying to call her all night, and she wasn't answering her phone. Was probably back on the island cuddling up with her boat man Cody, and boy would he give her an earful when she finally came in.

Overlooked in all the hustle, was a stray radio. "There's a fork in the road past Lexington pastor," Sarah Linden's nervous voice crackled through the air, unheard by everyone in the room.

"Stay left," Pastor Mike's voice replied.

Stephen raised his own radio to his mouth, "Is the park fully contained yet?" he asked.

"Copy, canine units aren't picking anything up. Over," the crackly response replied over the radio. Stephen's frustration was ever growing. Why were they not finding anything? He was about ready to kick everyone's ass, for being slow or not doing their jobs very well.

"We're losing choppers in twenty," Skinner announced walking into the room.

This raised Stephen's desperation. If they lost the helicopters, there was almost no chance of finding anything in the park until it was too late and the girl was dead. He spoke into the radio again, "Hanson you're losing your eye in the sky you got to move."

"We're going to push towards the marshes. But we got nothing at the park so far. Over."

"Keep looking," Stephen ordered over the radio.

To say that Stephen was getting frazzled would be an understatement. This entire search was really starting to make him look bad. Everyone in the room kept glancing at him questioningly. Like they were asking, 'You're the one that wanted this search, so why haven't we found anything?'

"Someone's sitting on the channel, radio 15035. Task force that's you," the stray radio that was sitting on a desk announced. It didn't have anything to do with the search so Stephen ignored it, barely even registering what it said. He could tell this search was turning into a waste of time and it was really making him look stupid. "My CI swore they were in the woods," Stephen said to Skinner who was giving him a look that said 'I think you messed up.'

Skinner just mouth "Yep," not looking happy at all. It was obvious he was questioning Bullets information.

"Could have come and gone by now," Reddick stated as if to try and smooth things over. That was true. Stephen trusted Bullet's information, and it's very possible that her info was right and they had just missed them.

"Someone's mike is open, camping on a channel. Repeat we got an open mike from radio 15035," the radio on the desk spoke again.

Stephen for the first time listened and absorbed exactly what was being said. He recognized that radio number. "035…" he walked over to the desk. "That's Linden's radio," he picked up the device and started to listen to what was being said. Why would Linden be camping out?

After turning the volume up, Linden's soft voice misted its way through the mike of the radio. "-your angry, but you need to think about your options."

"Everyone shut up," Stephen called over his shoulder to quite the room. Something was definitely wrong here. Reddick and Skinner moved closer to listen.

"Like what?" a males voice replied through the radio. The room had quieted down to just whispers, but Stephen was still having trouble making out what was being said. "Shut up!" he shrieked behind him, and that put the room into complete silence. Now every ear was listening. The male voice on the radio continued, "Beacon is gone. Everything I've built is gone."

Stephen's eyes widened, and his heart speed sped up as the realization of his partners predicament all came crashing down on him. He gently set the radio back down on the desk and looked at Skinner with horror displayed on his face, "Linden's with the pastor." Has she been with him this entire time? It was no wonder she hadn't been answering her phone.

"When did you last see her?" Skinner asked leaning down to get into closer hearing range of the radio.

"With you at the train station."

They stopped talking when Linden's voice started speaking again. "You have choices right now. But if my guys find out your pointing a gun at me, I can't help you any-"

The radio screeched as someone else began speaking over the radio, cutting her signal off, "Dispatch to 15035… Dispatch to 15035…" Stephen stepped back away from the radio, horrorstruck. Linden was in the hands of a possible serial killer, who was pointing a gun at her. This meant she was probably unarmed herself.

The room erupted into a fevered state of frenzy. Even Reddick who didn't even come close to having any sort of friendship with Linden, displayed distress at this knowledge. Skinner picked up his own radio and started speaking into it. "All units this is Lieutenant Skinner. An officer is making an emergency broadcast on channel 7. All units switch to L-tac until further notice."

Silence fell through the office again, everyone waiting with bated breath for Linden to start speaking again. They didn't have to wait long, "If I don't report in and we keep driving around the city, someone's bound to notice."

Stephen had to admire Linden's intelligence. Pastor Mike obviously didn't know that her radio was on, and they were hearing everything. She just gave them a very subtle clue as to where she was without her abductor realizing it. He glanced over at Skinner both having the same thought. "There in the city," Skinner announced to the room. "Call off all searches now!"

"Put out a bolo on Linden's vehicle," Stephen started to bark his own orders. "Seattle all, King County all."

"Phone. What about her phone?" Reddick asked.

An officer came out of the office to answer his question, "Phone is off sir, been trying non stop since you told me to."

Everyone in the office feverishly went about the room talking with each other in urgent voices, getting everything together to start the search for Linden's vehicle. Stephen however barely noticed, and couldn't care less at the moment. He held the radio in his hands, all he could hear was static right now. Holding his breath as he waited for his partner to start talking again, to let him know that she was still all right.

* * *

Pastor Mike Sheehan fingered Detective Linden's gun in his hands. It was really the conviction that had stopped him from shooting her by now. If he didn't feel the conviction that was obviously from the Lord, this detective would have been dead shortly after she got into her car. She and her partner had ruined his life, their endless probing and assumptions had destroyed what he had tried to build up after Tempe. He had almost had it all back, until they came alone and ruined everything.

Detective Linden's eyes kept glancing at him through the reviewer mirror. Her eyes showed signs of strength and suspicion, but he could see traces of fear as well. 'Good,' he thought savagely. She should be scared; it was only a matter of time before he killed her. He _was_ going to kill her; just waiting for the right time to do it. He had to make sure she knew that her senseless actions had destroyed everything he built. After he killed her, he'd probably just shoot him self. He couldn't afford to start again. He only wished he could kill her partner as well; Detective Holder certainly didn't help matters much. Its not even like they understand, they've probably never seen what he's seen… "Ever seen what heroin does to a kid?" he asked after a pretty long silence. "What withdrawal is like?"

"When I worked the jails yeah," she was once again attempting to make him believe that she totally understood where he was coming from. He wasn't buying it though. Sure she may have grew up in the system but she had made it out without too many repercussions, going by what her life looked like now. There's no way she could have had any experience with the runaway life of teenage prostitutes, drugs, and homelessness. She got to go home every night to a warm bed; that wouldn't happen anymore however.

"She's a junkie," Pastor Mike started to voice his thoughts. He needed to at least explain his innocents before committing murder, then offing himself. "A Junkie hoer," Detective Linden looked at him again through the mirror, looking questioning as if asking with her eyes who he was talking about. At the moment he really wasn't talking about anyone in particular, that's what all the girls are like. "That's all they are in this world. Human garbage these kids…" it was true. That's all anyone see's in them. No one wants too see the problem with these kids, except for him. He see's who they really are. "No one cares. No one goes looking for them."

"You do," Detective Linden countered.

This almost made him smile; at least he was getting some point through her narrow mind. "That's right… I do."

There eyes met for a brief moment in the mirror reflection, and then Detective Linden looked back at the road. He knew what she was thinking. That he was a killer of children, and in his mind it was some twisted attempt to help them. She was wrong though, and he would prove that to her before she died. "Do you know about the girl in Tempe?" A glance at him said the answer without words. It was amazing what the eyes will tell you, she most definitely knew. "Never meant to hurt her."

"Was she your first?" Detective Linden asked coldly.

Pastor Mike almost smiled. For a brief second he thought he might be able to open his heart about this event that destroyed his life the first time. Explain what happened without judgment. He was wrong though, she had already condemned him in her mind. "Why did I think I could talk to you about it, you're a cop?" he asked more to himself then to her.

* * *

The entire office was completely without conversation despite the fact it was filled with a dozen people. Everyone was listening to the patchy exchange between Linden and Pastor Mike over the police radio that was now being transmitted through a broadcasting appliance. Stephen was among them, listening intently to every word his partner spoke. "You punch a clock, you collect a paycheck, and go home and tell everyone what a difference you made," Pastor Mike's voice spoke through the transmitter. "You're nothing but a well trained dog."

Stephen wanted nothing more then to punch the living daylights about of the pastor for insulting Linden like that. Pastor Mike didn't have any idea what sort of hell he has seen Linden go through since they met a year ago. "You have no idea what being a cop is like," Linden's voice replied, traces of stinging defense in her voice. Stephen wanted to applaud her, at least if he couldn't set the pastor strait she was attempting to. "You try… but you have to go home at night worried that you didn't do enough, maybe you missed something. You fail every day but you keep coming back."

These were very true words, Stephen could not have put them better himself. Her voice was so compelling you almost had to believe she was being truthful. He felt bad that a room full of police officers were listening to her share such personal information. "That's what I do every day," the pastor's voice chilled the air again.

"I know," Linden's voice replied. "So I understand. I do."

Stephen nodded his head as she said this, as if to indicate that she was doing well and to keep it up even though he knew that she couldn't see him. The line went quiet where all they could hear was the low sound of static. "Come on Linden, just keep him talking. Keep him talking," Stephen whispered under his breath.

"The bridge is up are you sure you want to go this way?" Linden asked.

"I didn't tell you to get on the bridge," Pastor Mike told her, still not realizing that she was dropping hints for them.

Stephen looked around the room, desperate anticipation displayed on his face. A new clue! "The bridge is up, it's a draw bridge." He looked around and asked the entire room, "What's the range on these radios?"

"Thirty, thirty-five miles," Reddick who was standing right next to him answered the question. Reddick walked over to the electronic map of Seattle that displayed the room. "She's in county but we have multiple draw bridges," he explained to the room. "Ballard, Fremont, University-"

"Find out which one is up," Skinner Interrupted him "I want units over there right now."

"What about air support?" Stephen asked. Helicopters would be able to locate the bridges and find her car in little time.

"They ran out of fuel searching the parks, it will be at least 20 minutes before there near again," Skinner replied.

This just added to the guilt that weighed on Stephen's shoulders. He paced around the room with his hands placed on top of his head. He was just kicking himself. If he had not convinced Skinner to search the park for the Pastor, who was obviously not with Lyric right now, they would have air support helping them now. If Linden died because they didn't get to her in time, he would never forgive himself.

"Ballard and southwest Spokane Bridges are up, please advise," the radio spoke up.

"Great there are opposite ends of the damn city," Reddick stated, and Stephen could have punched him for sounding so unconfident.

"I want units on both of them right now, right now!" Skinner yelled into the radio.

"You can talk to me." Linden's garbled voice spoke through the transmitter again, the connection now so choppy it was barely understandable.

* * *

"Tell me about the girl is Tempe," Sarah said softly, looking back at the pastor in the rearview mirror. It appeared that he had a desire to open up about his past, but didn't trust anyone enough to do so. If she could get him to trust her, it might just save her life. "You said you tried to help her. She was an addict."

The emotions that displayed on his face in the mirror reflection had a lot to say. He shook his head a little, facial features twisting into a grimace. "I listened to her beg… scream at me to let her out." Sarah's heart sped up slightly, was he actually giving her a confession. It didn't add up to what he said next however. "No other program would take her." Program, what was hell was he talking about? Sarah lifted her head up to get a better look at his face in the mirror. "Either they ran out of funds, they ran out of beds, they gave up. It's all the same story."

"Let her out, I don't- I don't understand," Sarah asked with confusion resisting the desire to actually turn around and look back at him. Things were making less and less sense.

"What do you say so someone who's been throwing up and crying themselves dry for 3 days? You made me promise," Pastor Mike fell silent again. Sarah was at a complete loss, none of this made sense. She didn't even have a question for him, the only thing she could do was keep glancing at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "All I did was go to the store," he spoke again after a few moments. "She got out, and she told the neighbors that I kidnapped her."

It suddenly all clicked in Sarah's mind, "You were detoxing her?" she asked raising herself up in the seat and looking intently at his reflection

"And no one believed me," Pastor Mike sighed sharply. She could see his eyes give her reflection a piercing glare. It was amazing how much hate can be displayed in one glare. It was no longer a big question as to why he had kidnapped her. It was pretty obvious now. "They all looked at me like you are right now," Pastor Mike chuckled to himself at the irony. "You know, grown man… teenage girl inside his house for days," his voice started to choke up as he relayed these past thoughts and memories. "I lost my ministry, I lost everything. You have no idea what I went through. You sit there and you judge me-"

"I lost my son," Sarah interrupted him. If there was one thing she could relate to with the Pastor, it was losing everything you had. Just last year the Rosie Larsen case caused her to lose absolutely everything. By the time she stepped out of Holder's car she had no home, no job, no friends, and no family.

This did seem to strike a cord with the pastor. "What?" he asked obviously taken aback. "Did he die?"

Sarah inwardly sighed shaking her head. Had she just opened a can of worms? "No not that."

* * *

"I was in a custody battle with his father and I ran out of money first," Linden's voice spoke through the transmitter. The room had fallen into a grave silence, as they listened to Linden bare her soul for their listening ears. Everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines. That they were listening in on something not meant for their ears. Linden was sharing some very personal information, and they were invading in on her moment of weakness. "They said he was a more fit parent then I was. Incapable of caring for my son so… I understand I get it."

An officer in the back leaned toward the guy that was standing next to him and whispered in his ear, "Fifty bucks says she starts crying." The other guy chucked softly.

Stephen looked over at them, looking livid. He didn't hear exactly what he said, but he heard enough to get the gist of what they were joking about. His being coursed with rage; Linden had just opened a vein for them all, theoretically speaking, and they had the nerve to crack a joke.

"You think that's funny?" Stephen asked him, resisting the urge to punch his lights out. "That's funny to you? Get out of here before I break your face." The guy wisely left the room.

Stephen walked back to get into closer range of the radio. Pastor Mike's chilling voice spoke again. "Turn in here."

"What is this place?" Linden responded. Stephen did not like how frightened her voice sounded.

"Just do what I tell you," Pastor Mike replied. This was followed by a beeping sound, and static filled the transmission.

"What's going on?" Someone behind him asked, and Stephen didn't care enough to check who it was. All that mattered right now was Linden.

"The batteries dying or their moving out of range," Skinner replied.

No, no, no! Stephen wanted to scream. They couldn't lose contact now, not at this critical moment. Pastor Mike had obviously taken her to someplace; they could be seconds away from finding out where. "Come on Linden," he coaxed crossing his arms. They couldn't lose her now; she had to hold out for him.

* * *

Sarah had been told to drive into an empty parking garage. It was dark, dank, and filled with trash. The walls were covered with graffiti. It screamed a murder site, underground, isolated… no witnesses. "Why are we here?" she asked trying to remain calm.

"Keep driving," Pastor Mike ordered instead of answering her question. Sarah's heart sped up. The feeling of foreboding strengthened as they drove deeper into the garage. The horrible realization crashed down on her like a dead weight, this was the place she would meet her end. She was not going to make it out of this garage; she would never see the light of day again. "Over there."

Sarah glanced into the rearview mirror to see the pastor pointing to the left. She turned the car and slowly drove strait into a dead end. She stopped the car when it was no longer possible to drive any further, and put the gearshift into park. The only sounds that could be heard were the dripping of water. Probably the last thing she would ever hear… She turned her terrified eyes to look at his reflection in the mirror. "Why are we here?" she asked no longer trying to hide the terror in her voice. Knowing this was the last moments of her life, she was damn scared right now, and had no shame in displaying it to her killer and whoever else was listening on the other end of the radio. It was one of the worst feelings that she ever felt, knowing that your about to be killed. She had always spent her career trying to identify with her victims, get into their heads and find out what they were thinking. But she never expected to physically be put in there position. She was in that moment of knowing that this is how it's going to end; there is no other way out. No one was coming to save you; it was just you and your murderer.

"I used to find them hanging out down here," Pastor Mike commented sounding like it was more toward himself then to her. Was this his twisted plan of irony? Killing her in the very place he went to rescue the runaways. "Turn off the car."

Sarah decided to take one last stab at saving her own life. Once final chance to reason with Pastor Mike, "You- can explain… what really happened. They'll believe you."

"No they won't," he replied without hesitancy. "You didn't, did you?"

This was it. All her tactics have failed. She was now at Pastor Mike's mercy. "You don't have to do this," she pleaded her voice shaking with dread. She did not want to die here, alone in this dank garage.

"Turn it off," Pastor Mike icily ignored her plea. Sarah took one last look at Pastor Mike's eyes in the reflection of the rearview mirror. They really were the last thing she was ever going to see, just like all those girls. She was leaving this world just like all her victims, their murderer's cold eyes being the last sight before it all went black. She turned off the car, and was engulfed in darkness. The only thing left was too sit and wait for her doom.

They sat in the dark for a very long time, the silence tense. Sarah had no idea how long this lasted, but from what it felt it could have been hours. She wondered what was taking Pastor Mike so long. The only thing that was worse then dying was waiting for it to happen. It was like a child having to wait in for their parent to come in and spank them. You know its coming and there's nothing you can do about it, you can only sit there and dread the coming. There came the sound of her gun cocking, and the pastor's breath became shaky. It wouldn't be long now; how long was he going to spend working up the nerve to pull the trigger? "I'm having a cigarette," she announced without ceremony expecting to hear him protest in some way.

She waited two seconds to see if he was going to make any means to stop her, and then grabbed her cigarette box. If he was going to take his good old time in killing her, she was going to have a damn smoke waiting for it. If he didn't like, she didn't give a crap. She fumbled with the package until she felt one of the sticks fall into her fingers, then placed the stick between her teeth and lit the end with her lighter. Sarah's frazzled nerves felt some instant relief as she inhaled the nicotine filled smoke. She took the cigarette out of her mouth, and basked in its wake. The sound of Pastor Mike's shaky breathing could still be heard. "I lied to you before," Sarah spoke up then glanced at his dark reflection in the mirror.

This was not a survival tactic. It was time to be real with someone, even if it's with your killer. If she was going to die tonight, there were some things she needed to get off her heart. "About my son," she offered as way of explanation. "I didn't lose him in a custody battle, nobody took him from me. I lost him all on my own." The air in the car had thickened, possible from the smoke of her cigarette, possibly from the emotions that rolled off of the cars occupants. "I let him go…" A lump in her throat had formed; it would be so easy to cry right now. It was a really hard thing to do, admitting that you've failed your child. She had tried so hard, to be a good mother to Jack, to not turn into her own mom. But in the end she did exactly what her mother did. Even trying to deny it for a year didn't take away that fact that she had abandoned her child. Ironically it took the wait of her own impending death to admit it to herself. Sarah never would have expected she would confess her failures to the person who was about to kill her. She had never been to a catholic confession before, and she wondered if this is what its like; sitting in darkness, admitting your wrong doings to a pair of eyes.

"I didn't know how to tell him, this is all I've got. I can't give you… anymore. This is what I am," Sarah's heart crushed with every word she spoke. Pastor Mike completely forgotten in the back, she started walking down memory lane. There was a time when Jack was happy, even after Greg left there was a short time when he was happy. She was happy also. When did it change?

The sound of the gun clicking in the back was heard. But she didn't care anymore. It suddenly no longer mattered if she lived or died. A memory of Jack suddenly came to mind, "When he was four or five, I used to… come home and he'd hear me and… run and hide under the blankets in my bed, there used to be this big lump right in the middle. I'd pull back the covers and, act like it was a big surprise… that he was in there. He'd start cracking up." Sarah's eyes started to well up with tears, as she saw in her mind Jack lying on top of her blankets laughing without a care in the world. "And that was it, that was… that was all he wanted. I must've done it a hundred times."

"Sometimes the ones who hide are the ones who want to be found the most," Pastor Mike spoke softly. He had gone so quiet, and being lost in her memories Sarah had almost forgotten that he was in the car. Her story must have struck a cord with Pastor Mike. His breath hitched and in a broken voice he said, "I don't want to be here…" he breathed out sharply. "Can you take me to water? Please."

Sarah looked at his dark reflection in the mirror. Her tears were still threatening to fall. A strange bond seemed too had formed between them as they sat in the dark together. "Yeah," she replied kindly, as if this was a favor she was granting him.

* * *

**Here's is the next chapter. Thank you for you patients :) Part 3 coming soon**


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